Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for producing a chassis link, in particular a transverse control arm, which includes a single-shell main body shaped from a sheet metal blank, on which main body bearing regions are formed for attaching bearing elements by which the main body can be connected to a bodywork part or crossmember and to a movable part of a wheel suspension of a motor vehicle. The bearing regions include a wheel-side bearing region and two bodywork-side or crossmember-side bearing regions. The main body includes two arms which merge into one another and define a main-body plane and a concave edge region of the main body. The concave edge region extends from the wheel-side bearing region up to a first of the two bodywork-side or crossmember-side bearing regions and may be at an angle relative to the main-body plane. The second bodywork-side or crossmember-side bearing region may be in the form of a projection and may be provided with a bush. The projection and the arm, which includes the first bodywork-side or crossmember-side bearing region, define an indentation, along which the main body is angled relative to the main-body plane.
Description of Related Art
Chassis links which form an attachment member between the bodywork or a crossmember of a motor vehicle and a dynamically movable part of a wheel suspension, in particular a wheel carrier, are known in various designs. They can be formed as cast components or as sheet steel shells. Besides the inherent stiffness and wear resistance of a chassis link of this type, the weight thereof is also crucial, because the vehicle weight and thus the fuel consumption can be reduced by means of a lightweight component having high inherent stiffness.
DE 10 2007 018 569 A1 discloses a substantially L-shaped chassis link (transverse control arm), which is formed as a single shell, a bearing pin for attaching a bush-shaped bearing element being arranged on the end of one of the two sheet metal arms of said link. The sheet metal arm has a U-shaped cross-sectional profile and tapers off into a socket which encloses the bearing pin with a wrapping angle of at least 270° and is integrally bonded to the pin. A further bearing region of the chassis link has a bush which is welded to a projection which has a U-shaped cross section and is formed at the transition point between the arms which merge into one another. The chassis link is shaped from a sheet metal blank in several operations, in particular by deep drawing, trimming edge portions of the pre-drawn blank, and bending trimmed edge portions. Although a chassis link of this type can be produced cost-effectively owing to the single-shell sheet metal design, it has been found that bending (bending down) a trimmed edge portion causes high stresses in the region of the projection used for attaching the bush, and these stresses can lead to cracking in said region.